Former Palatine village councilman Warren Kostka now has until August 24 when a judge will decide whether he has complied with a June court order to have his yard cleaned up.

The two parties met Tuesday morning at Cook County Court in Rolling Meadows where Kostka requested a motion for continuance due to his lawyer not being able to make the July 24 appearance due to the heavy rainstorm.

At the June 20 court hearing, Kostka had agreed to move his unassembled storage shed sitting in his front yard to a spot mandated by the village, and also to remove exterior debris in his front yard, such as garbage and loosened sod by July 19. 

According to court documents from the July 24 hearing, a judge ruled that all outstanding violations, except those involving major structural issues, on his property at 108 N. Forest Avenue must be brought into compliance no later than August 23. Any structural engineer’s report must be completed by August 23. The two parties will reappear in court August 24.

Palatine is suing Kostka over several alleged property violations, and since the May 17 court hearing, he has addressed some non-structural issues on his property, such as filling the trenches, trimming the tall grass and weeds and removing the fabric fencing and the asphalt and concrete slabs. 

Kostka, who ran for mayor in 2009 and served on the village council from 1997 to 2000, has said that a federally mandated project to separate Palatine's sanitary sewer and storm water system in the 1980s resulted in flood damage to his home. Kostka said that his cost — repairs, flood damage, etc. — was in excess of six figures and he wanted the village to purchase his property. But in January, the council considered and rejected it.